


it goes down.

by ansutazu



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, uuuu h h i guess idk a thing my dude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 15:45:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12560764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ansutazu/pseuds/ansutazu
Summary: you shine more as the night deepens, your eyes tell me everything; on this nice night, i want you. // keichi one-shot.





	it goes down.

A dull light hovers over the paperwork on his desk, the sound of his scribbling drowned out by the raindrops that pester his windows in the most aggressive of ways, the harsh pelting having caused one half of his house to sit in the dark, the cold airs of a rainy day making him opt for a warm sweater and a hot beverage, a cup of coffee to keep him awake when his cans of energy drinks will only make him colder.

He writes away, jotting down deposits and withdrawals within the prestigious Yumenosaki’s activities, the summaries of the logs that are often turned in after a club’s certain activities, and the many, _many_ lives that’ve been decided upon, the many events of which the idols of his beloved school show off their hard work and effort to fans, to audiences, to people alike. This much he can generalize about that topic; he understood the thrill as he heaves in and out for breath, as he stares out at the cyalumes that radiate a shade of green just for him, the cheers that reaffirm his loyalty and affection for Akatsuki.

And had it not been for _him_ , he would never have felt such a thing.

The very thought of him sends a shiver down his spine, and his hand stops mid-sentence, the other one rubbing his tired eyes. The moon shines it light momentarily before being covered up by the gray clouds once again, and the rain hits harder, as if the weather itself was reprimanding Keito for pausing in his work. It was right, he thought — he had his duties as part of the student council, and he can’t let any thoughts of _him_ hinder him from his work.

Yet his efforts to divert his attention from him and back to his work proved to be nothing but futile; every stroke serves as a reminder of him, him, _him_ , and he almost snaps his pen in half with his overwhelming frustration; he puts his face in his free hand, groaning in exasperation and annoyance. How did he turn out like this?

A loud sound startles him out of his daze, his windows threatening to break as someone knocks on the glass. He shakes his head — was he working that late that he had started to hear things? He almost doesn’t turn around, but the knocking persists; when he does, he scrambles to open the window, to scold the blonde that stood outside in the cold, pouring rain with a smile on his face in front of Keito’s bedroom window.

“Eichi!” He opens the window, immediately pulling him in and throwing the nearest towel around him — which happened to be Keito’s blanket, which was short from an actual towel, but it would work until he could go out and find one for him. The blonde laughs, and he shuts the window behind him, but not before a cold gust rushes into his room, disturbing the papers on Keito’s desk and flinging them onto the floor.

“Why were you up working on student council stuff?” Eichi shakes his head softly, reaching out and grabbing a hold of Keito’s shoulder as he was just about to go pick them up. “I told you that I was here if you needed a hand with your workload. What’s with you picking it up all by yourself? You’re a pretty stubborn boy, Keito…it makes me upset.”

“I do it because I want you to take care of your health — ugh, but look at you, you’re soaking wet!” He takes his blanket and tries to dry off Eichi’s head, to which the blonde laughs again, much to his dismay. “Aren’t you having a fun time? Hurry up and get dry, Eichi — I work my ass off to make sure you don’t get overworked, and I’ll be pissed if you get sick because you were out there standing in the rain. What were you even doing? Have you lost all your senses? You’re incorrigible, you know that? You — ”

Thunder booms in the distance, and his lamp clicks off, leaving the both of them in his dark bedroom. He makes a yelp, looking around in the dimness for some sort of light to cling onto — but it was no use, and it was the same as if he had lost his glasses.

“Hey, relax, Keito.” Eichi takes out a small flashlight from his pocket, turning it on and shining it on his childhood friend. “I came prepared, you know? Fufu, this is interesting though — the both of us in a dark room, what will happen…?”

“What exactly are you trying to do, Eichi?” There was irritation in his voice, but he picks up on drying off the blonde once again, though begrudgingly (why can’t he do this himself?), muttering about how lacking Eichi was in common sense to have led them to a situation just like this. “If you’re going to try and redeem yourself, do so quickly. I’m losing patience by the minute — no, second, and if it reaches zero, then I’ll lecture you tenfold.”

“Aha, I wouldn’t want that.”

Eichi pauses, and Keito looks up from his work, to the sickly sweet smile Eichi placed on his face. It wasn’t feigned, it wasn’t forged — it was something he’d never seen before, a smile so genuine that it made his heart skip a beat, much to his dismay and embarrassment. It was a smile that conveyed gentleness with it, a smile that…made him confirm the feelings he had kept inside for so long.

“I just wanted to make this night a little more special, you know? It’s no good if everyday’s the same, Keito. If you mix it up a bit, then something exciting will make your heart race.”

With his free hand, Eichi pulls Keito closer, pressing his slightly warm body against his, though as of now, he was still standing in soaking wet clothes, only making Keito’s own clothes damp as well. He was teasing him, he truly was — and that smile morphed into something more mischievous, something more like _Eichi_ , though he couldn’t exactly find the strength to pull away. Instead, he (unconsciously) returns the favor, hugging Eichi in arms that would have carried him to the moon and back, hands that draw and write for Eichi’s sake clasped to keep the soaking-wet blonde from being able to move, too. Eichi holds the flashlight between them, the only light in the room, and though the night deepens, the blonde only shines more.

“This night’s for you.” Eichi leans closer, his face just mere centimeters away from Keito. It was intimidating, but it was thrilling as well — it was a feeling of ecstasy Keito couldn’t exactly describe clearly, and his mind whirls, though once again, he, too, leans closer, wondering what Eichi might do. “That’s why...I hope you don’t forget me.”

He presses his lips on Keito’s, letting himself melt in the Buddhist’s son’s arms. The kiss was soft — Eichi’s lips were soft, he observed, and they tasted of tea and a something else that made him fall even more. It felt gentle, but it was still so very, very nice; he catered to Keito’s weaknesses well, and Eichi smiled just a little bit, knowing that he had Keito snared in that kiss of his for the night.

Keito felt nothing but his heart caving into pure bliss.

* * *

The meeting with Eichi was more or less something of a fever dream.

His unit members were the ones to call him out about his sickness, telling him to go home and rest when he mumbled something about Eichi. Kuro and Souma both glanced at each other worriedly, and as he began to prepare himself for practice, Kuro had placed a hand on Keito’s forehead, his eyebrows bunching together and his face making what would have been seen as a scary expression to most, though the other two members of Akatsuki would know that it was his way of showing concern.

“You should go home — it feels like you’ve got a terrible fever with this high temperature of yours.”

“Huh? I’m fine, Kiryu.” Keito pouts, swiping off the hand on his head and darting his eyes to the floor instead so that he doesn’t have to face the troubled look on Kuro’s face. He sniffs — he isn’t proving his point, and his face grows hot (ironically). “If it’s anything remotely close to an illness, it’ll pass soon. I’ll drink some medicine later.”

“Hasumi-dono, it’d be better if you’d leave practice to go home and take some medicine now.” The purple-haired child from the other side of him chimed in, a serious tone in his voice. “Especially if you’ve been seeing — ”

“Don’t.”

Kuro’s voice cuts through Souma’s next sentence, and from the corner of his eye, he sees him nod in understanding.

Keito takes their advice — he somehow found a way to wobble out of the school, as he refused to let his unit members help him out, though they very much wanted to do so. Somehow, even with a running fever, he found walking home to provide some clarity in his ever-cluttered brain of his, and it is when he comes to terms with his illness that he figures out why the two were so concerned in the first place.

He stops by a nearby flower shop, buying the first bouquet he can muster to pick up with his depleting energy. It’d do him well to go home now, but he had to do one more thing.

He stumbles into the cemetery, into a familiar place that even the fever-ridden Keito can maneuver well. He’d figure out each rock, each plot of land, each gravestone, his own personal map of the place etched into his head since childhood. He holds the flowers close to him and he shivers at the cold wind that blows past, finally entering the piece of land that belonged to the Tenshouin family.

It takes a few minutes to get to where he wanted to be, and when he finally reaches Eichi’s grave, he lets out a sigh of relief. He looks at the name etched into the gravestone — ‘Eichi Tenshouin’, followed by a list of words he didn’t bother to read because it was what _his_ family wanted on there, despite Eichi’s surefire efforts to dodge any cliche string of words they came up with.

It was truly his last night, but even that was a few months ago, the very presence of Eichi Tenshouin having disappeared as a result of his illness finally getting the best of him. It was a grand affair, befitting of the thundering and powerful emperor — and yet Keito could still feel the emptiness in the spaces beside him, though many offered their condolences and apologies for his loss.

That side was meant to be empty the minute they met — he was an angel of death, after all.

He wished he wasn’t. He wished that, if Eichi’s life was truly in his hands, that it hadn’t been taken away, and he wouldn’t have to look at this sorry gravestone that’d gotten wet from yesterday’s rain, that was beginning to erode and grow moss as time moves forward. He wished Eichi was still here and living instead of coming to him in the form of a ghost in his own delusions, and he wished most of all that he had at least told him how he felt.

Because he _loved_ him, he found himself wishing that Eichi had a chance to be his lover before falling victim to death’s embrace. He wished he could have said words that would make his heart race just as much as he made his own heart stutter, and he wish he could have held on to the warmth that Eichi radiated while he was still very much alive. His first and last love had left him completely and utterly heartbroken, but it seems as if he can’t let his childhood friend truly go.

Was it a bad thing, to remember their memories and to cherish them, even though it hurt so bad? Surely over time the pain will ease, but…to forget Eichi was to forget a big part of Keito’s being, too.

He…no, the both of them were simply incorrigible. He shakes his head as he places the flowers down next to the grave, the bittersweet taste of Eichi’s kiss lingering on his lips and the sweet sensation spreading inside every inch of him, his heart dizzying at the very though of how _real_ it felt, the warmth that came from Eichi’s touch.

But he mustn’t delude himself any longer. He knows better. Still —

“I miss you, Eichi.”

**Author's Note:**

> i was listening to ko ko bop and thought of this after i read the lyrics......it's 12 am.
> 
> idk if it was clear but eichi was. a ghost in the first half just. knock knock knockin on keito's heart before going byeyonara into the afterlife


End file.
